Vin number stamping question

[Syleng1]

Does anyone know for sure how they stamped the body panels going down the line with the vin numbers. I was looking at a car last week. 72 Demon. The speaker shelf was cut to hell but it was a numbers matching 340-4speed car.

If I bought it and replaced the speaker shelf the numbers would no longer match because the speaker shelf is where the rear ID is. Sort of. Documentation of the repair would be good to most collectors IF I sold the car.

It made me wonder - “How Did they stamp the car’s?” Im picturing a large spring loaded arm like you find on an industrial spot welder.... with a set of jaws and a rotating series of numbers that squeezed the last 8 into the car sheet metal or maybe the sheet metal parts in this case the radiator support and rear speak shelf are stamped before forming. Not sure as they are never in the exact same place.

Anyone have any pictures or actually been there to see this?

Thanks!
Joe

 

[67Dart273]

Well you have to also remember that rust or crash damage "been fixed" takes it's toll and these girls are getting old. I bet LOTS of fixed front end damage results in a "non original" rad support, etc. I just bought a 74 Scamp, and it has some pretty ugly lookin' rust under the vinyl top. I bet the C pillars are toast, and it seems to ?? have leaked into the trunk

 

[Syleng1]

Well you have to also remember that rust or crash damage "been fixed" takes it's toll and these girls are getting old. I bet LOTS of fixed front end damage results in a "non original" rad support, etc. I just bought a 74 Scamp, and it has some pretty ugly lookin' rust under the vinyl top. I bet the C pillars are toast, and it seems to ?? have leaked into the trunk

I agree. But some cars lived “charmed lives.”
Garages all the time and no issues.
This car has the rear shelf cut open for monster speakers and vertical amps. A bunch of angle iron welded and bent. Really sad. But being it was a stereo guy- the rest of the car is pretty much all there. It did not run but the stereo was kick’en!

 

[Dana67Dart]

No idea how they did it, but i would keep the steel with the vin stamped in it. Maybe even tack weld it next to the oem location on the replacement panel. That and documentation would prove it was not a rebody